README

Install

Install package through Composer

composer require alexcrawford/lexorank-sortable

Version Compatibility

Laravel	Sortable
4	1.2.x (branch laravel4)
<=5.3	3.2.x
5.4	3.4.x
5.5	4.2.x
5.7	4.7.x
6.0	6.0.x
7.x, 8.x	8.x.x
9.x, 10.x, 11.x, 12.x	9.x.x

Sortable Trait

Adds sortable behavior to Eloquent (Laravel) models

Usage

Add position field to your model (see below how to change this name):

// schema builder example
public function up()
{
    Schema::create('articles', function (Blueprint $table) {
        // ... other fields ...
        $table->string('position'); // Your model must have position field
    });
}

Important: Database Collation for Position Column

This package uses LexoRank for position management, which relies on lexicographic (ASCII-based) string sorting. The position values use characters in the range '0' to 'z' (ASCII 48-122).

For SQLite and PostgreSQL:

✅ Default text collation works correctly
No additional configuration needed

For MySQL/MariaDB (CRITICAL):

⚠️ You must specify binary collation for the position column
Default collations like utf8mb4_unicode_ci will sort incorrectly

// MySQL/MariaDB - REQUIRED for correct sorting
public function up()
{
    Schema::create('articles', function (Blueprint $table) {
        // ... other fields ...
        $table->string('position')->charset('utf8mb4')->collation('utf8mb4_bin');
        // or use binary type for guaranteed ASCII sorting:
        // $table->binary('position', 255);
    });
}

Why this matters:

Unicode collations (like utf8mb4_unicode_ci) apply language-specific sorting rules that don't preserve ASCII ordering
Binary collation ensures positions sort in correct lexicographic order (e.g., 'U' < 'V' < 'X' < 'Z')
Without this, drag-and-drop reordering may produce unexpected results on MySQL/MariaDB

Add \AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableTrait to your Eloquent model.

class Article extends Model
{
    use \AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableTrait;
}

if you want to use custom column name for position, set $sortableField:

class Article extends Model
{
    use \AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableTrait;

    protected static $sortableField = 'somefield';
}

Now you can move your entities with methods moveBefore($entity) and moveAfter($entity) (you dont need to save model after that, it has saved already):

$entity = Article::find(1);

$positionEntity = Article::find(10)

$entity->moveAfter($positionEntity);

// if $positionEntity->position is aaa, then $entity->position is aab now

Also this trait automatically defines entity position on the create event, so you do not need to add position manually, just create entities as usual:

$article = new Article();
$article->title = $faker->sentence(2);
$article->description = $faker->paragraph();
$article->save();

This entity will be at position entitiesMaximumPosition + 1

To get ordered entities use the sorted scope:

$articles = Article::sorted()->get();

** Note **: Resorting does not take place after a record is deleted. Gaps in positional values do not affect the ordering of your lists. However, if you prefer to prevent gaps you can reposition your models using the deleting event. Something like:

// YourAppServiceProvider

YourModel::deleting(function ($model) {
    $model->next()->decrement('position');
});

You need alexcrawford-sortable >=2.3 to use ->next()

Sortable groups

if you want group entity ordering by field, add to your model

protected static $sortableGroupField = 'fieldName';

now moving and ordering will be encapsulated by this field.

If you want group entity ordering by many fields, use as an array:

protected static $sortableGroupField = ['fieldName1','fieldName2'];

Sortable many to many

Let's assume your database structure is

posts
    id
    title

tags
    id
    title

post_tag
    post_id
    tag_id

and you want to order tags for each post

Add position column to the pivot table (you can use any name you want, but position is used by default)

post_tag
    post_id
    tag_id
    position (string with binary collation for MySQL/MariaDB)

Migration example:

Schema::create('post_tag', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->unsignedInteger('post_id');
    $table->unsignedInteger('tag_id');
    $table->string('position')->charset('utf8mb4')->collation('utf8mb4_bin'); // MySQL/MariaDB
    // or for SQLite/PostgreSQL: $table->string('position');
    
    $table->foreign('post_id')->references('id')->on('posts')->onDelete('cascade');
    $table->foreign('tag_id')->references('id')->on('tags')->onDelete('cascade');
    $table->primary(['post_id', 'tag_id']);
});

⚠️ Remember: The position column must use binary collation on MySQL/MariaDB for correct sorting.

Add \AlexCrawford\Sortable\BelongsToSortedManyTrait to your Post model and define belongsToSortedMany relation provided by this trait:

class Post extends Model {

    use BelongsToSortedManyTrait;

    public function tags()
    {
        return $this->belongsToSortedMany('\App\Tag');
    }
}

Note: $this->belongsToSortedMany has different signature then $this->belongsToMany -- the second argument for this method is $orderColumn ('position' by default), next arguments are the same

Attaching tags to post with save/sync/attach methods will set proper position

    $post->tags()->save($tag) // or
    $post->tags()->attach($tag->id) // or
    $post->tags()->sync([$tagId1, $tagId2, /* ...tagIds */])

Getting related model is sorted by position

$post->tags; // ordered by position by default

You can reorder tags for given post

    $post->tags()->moveBefore($entityToMove, $whereToMoveEntity); // or
    $post->tags()->moveAfter($entityToMove, $whereToMoveEntity);

Many to many demo: http://sortable5.boxfrommars.ru/posts (code)

You can also use polymorphic many to many relation with sortable behavour by using the MorphsToSortedManyTrait trait and returning $this->morphToSortedMany() from relation method.

By following the Laravel polymorphic many to many table relation your tables should look like

posts
    id
    title

tags
    id
    title

taggables
    tag_id
    position (string with binary collation for MySQL/MariaDB)
    taggable_id
    taggable_type

Migration example:

Schema::create('taggables', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->unsignedInteger('tag_id');
    $table->string('position')->charset('utf8mb4')->collation('utf8mb4_bin'); // MySQL/MariaDB
    // or for SQLite/PostgreSQL: $table->string('position');
    $table->unsignedInteger('taggable_id');
    $table->string('taggable_type');
    
    $table->foreign('tag_id')->references('id')->on('tags')->onDelete('cascade');
    $table->index(['taggable_id', 'taggable_type']);
});

⚠️ Remember: The position column must use binary collation on MySQL/MariaDB for correct sorting.

And your model like

class Post extends Model {

    use MorphToSortedManyTrait;

    public function tags()
    {
        return $this->morphToSortedMany('\App\Tag', 'taggable');
    }
}

Sortable Controller

Also this package provides \AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableController, which handle requests to sort entities

Usage

Add the service provider to config/app.php

'providers' => array(
    // providers...

    'AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableServiceProvider',
)

publish the config:

php artisan vendor:publish

Add models you need to sort in the config config/sortable.php:

'entities' => array(
     'articles' => '\App\Article', // entityNameForUseInRequest => ModelName
     // or
     'articles' => ['entity' => '\App\Article'],
     // or for many to many
     'posts' => [
        'entity' => '\App\Post',
        'relation' => 'tags' // relation name (method name which returns $this->belongsToSortedMany)
     ]
),

Add route to the sort method of the controller:

Route::post('sort', '\AlexCrawford\Sortable\SortableController@sort');

Now if you post to this route valid data:

$validator = \Validator::make(\Input::all(), array(
    'type' => array('required', 'in:moveAfter,moveBefore'), // type of move, moveAfter or moveBefore
    'entityName' => array('required', 'in:' . implode(',', array_keys($sortableEntities))), // entity name, 'articles' in this example
    'positionEntityId' => 'required|numeric', // id of relative entity
    'id' => 'required|numeric', // entity id
));

// or for many to many

$validator = \Validator::make(\Input::all(), array(
    'type' => array('required', 'in:moveAfter,moveBefore'), // type of move, moveAfter or moveBefore
    'entityName' => array('required', 'in:' . implode(',', array_keys($sortableEntities))), // entity name, 'articles' in this example
    'positionEntityId' => 'required|numeric', // id of relative entity
    'id' => 'required|numeric', // entity id
    'parentId' => 'required|numeric', // parent entity id
));

Then entity with \Input::get('id') id will be moved relative by entity with \Input::get('positionEntityId') id.

For example, if request data is:

type:moveAfter
entityName:articles
id:3
positionEntityId:14

then the article with id 3 will be moved after the article with id 14.

jQuery UI sortable example

Note: Laravel 5 has csrf middleware enabled by default, so you should setup ajax requests: http://laravel.com/docs/5.0/routing#csrf-protection

Template

<table class="table table-striped table-hover">
    <tbody class="sortable" data-entityname="articles">
    @foreach ($articles as $article)
    <tr data-itemId="{{{ $article->id }}}">
        <td class="sortable-handle"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-sort"></span></td>
        <td class="id-column">{{{ $article->id }}}</td>
        <td>{{{ $article->title }}}</td>
    </tr>
    @endforeach
    </tbody>
</table>

Template for many to many ordering

<table class="table table-striped table-hover">
    <tbody class="sortable" data-entityname="posts">
    @foreach ($post->tags as $tag)
    <tr data-itemId="{{ $tag->id }}" data-parentId="{{ $post->id }}">
        <td class="sortable-handle"><span class="glyphicon glyphicon-sort"></span></td>
        <td class="id-column">{{ $tag->id }}</td>
        <td>{{ $tag->title }}</td>
    </tr>
    @endforeach
    </tbody>
</table>

    /**
     *
     * @param type string 'insertAfter' or 'insertBefore'
     * @param entityName
     * @param id
     * @param positionId
     */
    var changePosition = function(requestData){
        $.ajax({
            'url': '/sort',
            'type': 'POST',
            'data': requestData,
            'success': function(data) {
                if (data.success) {
                    console.log('Saved!');
                } else {
                    console.error(data.errors);
                }
            },
            'error': function(){
                console.error('Something wrong!');
            }
        });
    };

    $(document).ready(function(){
        var $sortableTable = $('.sortable');
        if ($sortableTable.length > 0) {
            $sortableTable.sortable({
                handle: '.sortable-handle',
                axis: 'y',
                update: function(a, b){

                    var entityName = $(this).data('entityname');
                    var $sorted = b.item;

                    var $previous = $sorted.prev();
                    var $next = $sorted.next();

                    if ($previous.length > 0) {
                        changePosition({
                            parentId: $sorted.data('parentid'),
                            type: 'moveAfter',
                            entityName: entityName,
                            id: $sorted.data('itemid'),
                            positionEntityId: $previous.data('itemid')
                        });
                    } else if ($next.length > 0) {
                        changePosition({
                            parentId: $sorted.data('parentid'),
                            type: 'moveBefore',
                            entityName: entityName,
                            id: $sorted.data('itemid'),
                            positionEntityId: $next.data('itemid')
                        });
                    } else {
                        console.error('Something wrong!');
                    }
                },
                cursor: "move"
            });
        }
    });

Development

Setup

Build the Docker image:

docker build -t alexcrawford-sortable .

Running Tests

docker run --volume $PWD:/project --rm --user $(id -u):$(id -g) alexcrawford-sortable vendor/bin/phpunit

Code Quality Tools

This project includes modern PHP development tools:

Code Formatting (Laravel Pint):

vendor/bin/pint              # Check and fix code style
vendor/bin/pint --test       # Check only (don't modify)

Static Analysis (PHPStan):

vendor/bin/phpstan analyse   # Run type safety checks

Code Coverage (Xdebug):

docker run --volume $PWD:/project --rm --user $(id -u):$(id -g) alexcrawford-sortable vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-text

Current code coverage:

Lines: 84.43% (206/244)
Methods: 76.19% (32/42)
Classes: 55.56% (5/9)

Running All Tests:

docker run --volume $PWD:/project --rm --user $(id -u):$(id -g) alexcrawford-sortable bash -c "vendor/bin/phpunit && vendor/bin/phpstan analyse && vendor/bin/pint --test"

alexcrawford / lexorank-sortable

Maintainers

Details

README

Install

Version Compatibility

Sortable Trait

Usage

Important: Database Collation for Position Column

Sortable groups

Sortable many to many

Sortable Controller

Usage

jQuery UI sortable example

Development

Setup

Running Tests

Code Quality Tools